Will Congress eliminate the time-honored deduction for homeowners making mortgage interest payments? And what will the impact be on local housing if they do?

The National Association of Realtors has made fighting changes to the mortgage interest deduction a top priority for the coming year, calling the practice “vital to the stability of the American housing market and economy.”

We broke bread with a room full of Realtors Friday as the Orange County Association of Realtors swore in Huntington Beach agent Jean Tietgen as its 2011 president. We asked some of them for their views about the interest deduction and a couple other issues …

Us: What are chances the mortgage interest deduction will shrink or go away, and what will happen if it does?

Tietgen: I have no doubt that the impact would be horrendous to our market. … There really is no other tax advantage to owning a home other than the mortgage interest deduction. Housing fuels the economy. We’re just seeing light at the end of the tunnel, so it would be devastating to an economy that’s dependant on real estate.”

Dennis O’Connor, The Real Estate Professionals in Mission Viejo: “That’s been in place about 100 years or so. That’s been responsible for more people being able to buy a home … so I don’t think it will go away. We will fight tooth and nail to make sure it stays in place. (If eliminated) it would obviously slow down a really slow real estate market.”

Tom Cannon, managing broker for Associated Realtors in Mission Viejo: “It’s well ingrained. (A slight scaling back) would be the only reasonable thing to do, (but) I think it will probably stay the same. To even address elimination in this economy seems so foolish because there are so many households that set up their expenses around it.”

Barbara Delgleize, Huntington Beach broker and a past president of the O.C. Realtor association: “The write-off for homeowners has been around for 80 years. It’s almost like hot dogs and beer. It’s so ingrained in our culture. … To pass a restriction (on the mortgage interest deduction) now, with the economy so fragile, would really be a mistake.”

Us: What impact, if any, will President Obama’s deal to extend the Bush tax cuts have on the housing market?

INSIDER Q&As

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Dunn: “We just need to have something settled. People are really put off by the uncertainty. So as soon as we see things settled, sales will pick up.”

Samuel: “The bigger problem (is) whatever (tax cuts) they take away, that’s more money for the government, and that’s worse for the citizens. … They need to spend less money. I’m not sure (ending tax cuts) goes for deficit reduction.”

Cannon: “Most of the people we deal with have been making the presumption we would not be raising taxes next year. … (The 2% payroll tax deduction) might put a little bit of cash in people’s pockets. I don’t think it’s a significant amount of cash.”

O’Connor: “Obviously a tax cut is good, but we’ve had this tax break for 10 years, and it hasn’t solved the problem. The economy has some problems other than the tax break.”

Delgleize: “For small businesses such as Realtors, yes it will help.”

Us: John Wayne Airport has competing proposals for a surf-themed restaurant, one named after surfboard manufacturing pioneer Hobie Alter, the other after three-time world surfing champion (and Register columnist) Corky Carroll. So what’s your vote: Hobie or Corky?

For more than a decade, Jeff Collins has followed housing and real estate, covering market booms and busts and all aspects of the real estate industry. He has been tracking rents and home prices, and has explored solutions to critical problems such as Southern California’s housing shortage and affordability crisis. Before joining the Orange County Register in 1990, he covered a wide range of topics for daily newspapers in Kansas, El Paso and Dallas. A Southern California native, he studied at UC Santa Barbara and UC Irvine. He later earned a master’s degree from the USC School of Journalism.

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